Somewhere Out There
by MyLadyScribbler
Summary: Ducky says goodbye to Maggie at the airport as she prepares to catch her overnight flight back to London, a few days after the end of "So It Went." Songfic: "Somewhere Out There," from "An American Tail."


A songfic that acts as a coda of sorts to my last Ducky and Maggie story, "So It Went." Ducky takes Maggie to the airport so she can catch her flight back to London...but it's only goodbye for now, not forever.

I've been working with the idea for a long time, but I've only now gotten around to posting it.

Disclaimers, etc. I do not own the NCIS characters, though I do love writing stories about them. "Somewhere Out There," from "An American Tail," is by Barry Mann, James Horner and Cynthia Weil, and I'm including it because it's a lovely song that really sets the tone of the story.

 **xNCISx**

"Now, are you sure you have everything?" Ducky asked.

He and Maggie were standing in Terminal 7 at John F. Kennedy Airport, watching the electronic departures board, as dusk turned into nightfall outside.

"Oh, Donnie, I've only checked my luggage at least a dozen times over today," Maggie laughed as she held up her passport and British Airways confirmation email. "Everything is present and correct."

"And there wouldn't be enough time to get back to the city and back here even if you'd forgotten something – good Lord, the traffic was awful," Ducky remarked. "Let's get you checked in."

They went to the ticket counter, and Maggie got her luggage checked in and her boarding pass printed. Then they watched as Maggie's burgundy leather suitcase was loaded on the conveyor belt and disappeared into the depths of the baggage area.

"I've had a lovely time, these last several days," Maggie said. "I wouldn't change anything about it…well, aside from that unpleasantness with Taylor."

"I quite agree," Ducky smiled. "Jethro told me earlier that the district attorneys are preparing for battle as we speak."

After a reunion in D.C. that had been hampered in more ways than one by a bizarre NCIS case, Ducky and Maggie had managed to get away to New York for a few days of much-needed free time. The two of them had taken full advantage of it – and Ducky had promised that he would come over to England for a visit later in the summer.

It was with greatest reluctance that Maggie and Ducky then glanced up at the clock over the ticket counter.

"I suppose I'd better start going through security," Maggie said softly.

Ducky walked her to the start of the line that went through the TSA checkpoints. And there was a line, of passengers wearily resigned to scans and pat-downs.

An airport security line, with the sound of beeps and alarms and clattering plastic bins, generally doesn't lend itself to romantic moments.

But Ducky and Maggie shared one last hug, and a kiss. They made the moment last as long as possible, not caring if people were watching them.

"See you in June, then," Maggie whispered as she joined the line.

Ducky stood there watching as she eventually took her turn through the queue.

And then she was gone.

Letting out a deep sigh, Ducky slowly made his way back to the terminal entrance and hailed a cab back to the city.

About half an hour later, the cab deposited him near the quiet little hotel on the Upper West Side where he and Maggie had been staying.

Ducky paid the fare and started to walk up to the hotel entrance.

He stepped into the warmth and light of the lobby, paused…and then he turned around, went back outside and started walking to the nearest subway stop on the 123 line.

 **xNCISx**

In the departure lounge, Maggie unlocked her phone and began scanning through the photos, until she found one that had been taken two nights before.

She and Ducky were standing, arms around each other's shoulders, in front of the fountain at Lincoln Center. He was wearing a tuxedo and black tie while she wore her favorite turquoise "night out in Covent Garden" dress.

Maggie's thoughts slowly wandered away from the crowded terminal as she gazed out at the moon rising outside the window.

 _Somewhere out there…beneath the pale moonlight…someone's thinking of me, and loving me tonight…_

 **xNCISx**

Ducky exited the subway at Rector Street and walked the last short distance to Battery Park.

Night had fallen, but the park was still full of people having a last evening walk or jog, enjoying the increasingly spring-like weather.

He walked down to the water's edge. Moonlight rippled off the surface of New York Harbor, and boats bobbed up and down on the tide. And off to the south was the Statue of Liberty, lit up on her turret.

Ducky reached into his pocket, took out his phone and checked the time. Then he scanned through the photos until he found one that was identical to the one Maggie had on her phone.

The obligatory "Moonstruck" photo in front of the fountain.

He gazed at it for a very long time.

 _Somewhere out there…someone's saying a prayer, that we'll find one another, in that big somewhere out there…_

 **xNCISx**

Meanwhile, back at JFK, the London-bound flight taxied away from the gate and began making its way toward the runway, joining the queue of planes awaiting permission to take off.

Eventually, it was their turn. The plane zoomed down the runway and began its ascent.

It climbed higher and higher, pivoting slightly.

Before the plane began crossing out over the Long Island Sound, Maggie caught a glimpse of the city, all lit up below them.

For some reason, she found herself looking down toward Battery Park.

Of course she couldn't see who or what was down there.

But somehow, she knew.

 _And even though I know how very far apart we are…it helps to think we might be wishing, on that same bright star…_

 _And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby…it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky…_

 **xNCISx**

Ducky checked the time. And then he turned to face east, off in the direction of Queens and JFK.

Her plane should be taking off now.

Looking up at the sky, he began searching for the red and green blinking lights of planes overhead.

There could be any number of planes taking off from JFK at that moment.

But somehow, he knew that that one, the one crossing in front of the moon, was hers.

 _Somewhere out there…if love can see us through…then, we'll be together, somewhere out there, out where dreams…come true…_

 **xNCISx**

Reviews welcome!


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